Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Mycenaean Greeks, Minoan Greeks and Celts. It has been a full medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896 for men and since 2000 for women.
Steven Leslie Hooker OAM is an Australian former pole vaulter and Olympic gold medalist. His personal best, achieved in 2008, is 6.06 m making him the fourth-highest pole vaulter in history, behind Sergey Bubka and Renaud Lavillenie and Armand Duplantis.
Denise Margaret Robertson-Boyd is an Australian former Olympic sprinter, who reached two Olympic finals in the 200 metres sprint. Boyd won the gold medal for 200 metres at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton.
Alana Boyd is an Australian Olympic pole vaulter.
Kate Rooney is an English pole vaulter. She is a former British record holder both indoors and out, before both of her records were surpassed by Holly Bleasdale in 2011.
The Anniversary Games, formerly known as the London Grand Prix, is an annual athletics event held in London, England. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. As the London Grand Prix, until 2012 all editions were held at the National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace. The 2013 edition was renamed the Anniversary Games as it took place at the Stadium in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, exactly one year after the Olympic Games were held in the same venue and have been followed by an IPC London Grand Prix, making it a three-day event. In 2014 the meet was held in Glasgow, Scotland, as preparation for the Commonwealth Games held there later that month.
Mervyn David Richards was a New Zealand pole vaulter, who represented his country at three British Empire and Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in 1958. He went on to become a successful coach in both pole vault and gymnastics.
Holly Bethan Bradshaw is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She is the current British record holder in the event indoors and outdoors, with clearances of 4.87 metres and 4.90 metres. Bradshaw won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also won bronze at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, gold at the 2013 European Indoor Championships, bronze at the 2018 European Championships, and silver at the 2019 European Indoor Championships. She also won at the 2018 Athletics World Cup. Coached by Scott Simpson, she has been consistently ranked among the world's best and has been ranked in the world top ten on the Track and Field News merit rankings four times.
Elizaveta "Liz" Parnov is a Russian-born Australian athlete who competes in pole vault. She qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and competed in the Women's pole vault. Her best height was 4.4m which meant that she was placed 12th in her qualifier. Parnov was eliminated from the pole vault qualifiers in controversial circumstances as officials failed to stop proceedings as rain tumbled down. She was forced to try her third attempt at 4.40m as the rain steadily increased. and in slippery, wet conditions was forced to abandon her next jump.
Roslinda Samsu is a Malaysian pole vaulter. She is a four-time defending champion at the Southeast Asian Games, and a silver medalist at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. She won the bronze medal at the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon, South Korea, but nearly missed out of the podium at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. She was also able to clear her personal best of 4.20 metres to capture the gold medal at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championships in Amman, Jordan.
Luke Cutts is a British pole vaulter. His personal best of 5.83 m set in 2014 is the British indoor record for the event. His outdoor best of 5.70 m puts him third on the all-time British lists.
The pole vault at the Summer Olympics is grouped among the four track and field jumping events held at the multi-sport event. The men's pole vault has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first Summer Olympics in 1896. The women's event is one of the latest additions to the programme, first being contested at the 2000 Summer Olympics – along with the addition of the hammer throw, this brought the women's field event programme to parity with the men's.
The Men's pole vault at the 2014 Commonwealth Games as part of the athletics programme was held at Hampden Park on 1 August 2014.
Sally Peake is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She has a personal best of 4.40 m for the event, which is a Welsh record. She was the silver medallist in the pole vault at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Alysha Eveline Newman is a Canadian track and field athlete who specializes in the pole vault. She competed at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. Newman was the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion in the women's pole vault, where she set a new Games record of 4.75 metres (15.6 ft).
Nina Kennedy is an Australian athlete who specialises in pole vault. She qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and competed in the Women's pole vault. Her best height was 4.4m which meant that she was placed 12th in her qualifier. Kennedy was eliminated from the pole vault qualifiers in controversial circumstances as officials failed to stop proceedings as rain tumbled down. She was forced to try her third attempt at 4.40m as the rain steadily increased. and in slippery, wet conditions was forced to abandon her next jump.
Eliza McCartney is a New Zealand track and field athlete who competes in the pole vault and won the bronze medal in this event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is the current New Zealand and Oceania record holder at 4.94 m, and is the outdoor world junior record holder at 4.64 m. She also won the silver medal at the Summer Universiade in 2015. In 2018, she placed second at the Commonwealth Games.
The women's pole vault at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, as part of the athletics programme, took place in the Carrara Stadium on 13 April 2018.
Katie Byres is a British former track and field athlete who competed in the pole vault. She holds a personal best of 4.52 m for the event, set in Nevers, France on 18 February 2012. Her highest national ranking during her career was third in 2012. She also ranked 16th in the world in the 2012 indoor season. She broke the British under-20 records for pole vault, indoors and outdoors.
